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Date: Tuesday, 26-Nov-96 00:07:05 GMT
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<TITLE>SPOKEN LANGUAGE SYSTEMS GROUP</TITLE>
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<!WA0><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu"><!WA1><img src="http://www.lcs.mit.edu/web_project/Brochure/sls/slsline.gif"></a>
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	<td><!WA2><img src=http://www.lcs.mit.edu/web_project/Brochure/sls/zue.gif></td>
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	<td><!WA3><img src=http://www.lcs.mit.edu/web_project/Brochure/sls/seneff.gif></td>
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<td> <!WA4><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/~zue/zue.html"><address><b>Victor Zue</b></a>,<br>Senior Research Scientist, <br>Associate Director, LCS</address>
	</td><td><!WA5><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/~seneff/index.html"> <address><b>Stephanie Seneff</b></a>,<br>Principal Research Scientist</address></td>
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<p>
Computers are fast becoming a ubiquitous part of our lives,
and our appetite for information is ever increasing.  As a
result, many researchers have sought to develop a
convenient human-computer interface, so that ordinary
people can effortlessly access, process and manipulate vast
amounts of information for education, decision-making,
purchasing, or entertainment.
<p>
Researchers of the Spoken Language Systems (SLS) group
believe that a speech interface, in a user's own language,
is ideal because it is the most natural, flexible,
efficient, and economical form of human communication. 
However, many tasks that lend themselves to spoken input --
making travel arrangements, for example, or selecting a
movie -- are in fact exercises in interactive
problem-solving.  The solution is often built up
incrementally, with both user and computer playing active
roles in the "conversation."  Therefore, several
language-based input- and ouput technologies must be
developed and integrated to reach this goal.  Regarding the
former, speech-recognition must be combined with natural
language processing so the computer can understand spoken
commands (often in the context of previous parts of the
dialogue). On the output side, some of the information
provided by the computer -- and any of the computer's
requests for clarification -- must be converted to natural
sentences, perhaps delivered verbally.<p>
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	<td><!WA6><img src=http://www.lcs.mit.edu/web_project/Brochure/sls/glass.gif></td>
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	<td><!WA7><img src=http://www.lcs.mit.edu/web_project/Brochure/sls/goddeau.gif></td>
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<td> <!WA8><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/~jrg/index.html"><address><b>James R. Glass,</b></a><br>Research Scientist</address></td>
<td> <!WA9><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/~dg/index.html"><address><b>David Goddeau,</b></a><br>Research Scientist</address></td>
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Our research activities fall into three categories. In the
first, basic research is aimed at quantifying and modeling
various aspects of the speech communication chain, ranging
from the development of computational models of how humans
hear to the modeling of linguistic regularities in
spontaneous speech.  The second area of research will use
these results to develop algorithms for speech recognition
and language understanding. The third research category
will integrate the component technologies into prototype
spoken language systems with varying capabilities.
<p>
Several spoken language systems in real application domains
are being developed in the SLS group.  The <!WA10><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/VOYAGER.html">VOYAGER</a> system
can help future drivers explore and navigate in an unknown
urban setting, whereas the <!WA11><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/PEGASUS.html">PEGASUS</a> system enables a
traveller to make airline reservations.  The <!WA12><a href="http://www.sls.lcs.mit.edu/GALAXY.html">GALAXY</a> system
is intended to provide easy access for on-line information
on the information highway, and the Language Tutor is
directed towards interactively learning foreign languages.





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